Wanted to have suggestions for car washes in the winter. I usually hand wash in the summer. Was looking at the petro Canada season pass but the one close to me (don mills) is soft cloth. Probably not a good idea? (Although the vehicle is leased...). Thoughts?

I generally hand wash in the warmer months, but in the winter usually use touchless carwashes. I've found Esso and Canadian Tire generally have pretty good touchless washes (at least the locations I frequent in North York and Scarborough)

I go to coin operated hand spray washes but I don't use the soap or the brush. I just put it on rinse mode to blast away the muck. After I blast all the muck off, I wash it at home in my garage with Optimim No Rinse car wash. Here is a thread about this:

I go to coin operated hand spray washes but I don't use the soap or the brush. I just put it on rinse mode to blast away the muck. After I blast all the muck off, I wash it at home in my garage with Optimim No Rinse car wash.

I go to coin operated hand spray washes but I don't use the soap or the brush. I just put it on rinse mode to blast away the muck. After I blast all the muck off, I wash it at home in my garage with Optimim No Rinse car wash. Here is a thread about this:

I think this is the safest bet. If you can live with just spraying off the most visible dirt during the winter, go to the coin op place and use their presure washer.

The other option if you want the whole treatment is to go to a true touchless place wherer you don't even put a wheel in the track....the ones where you just drive in and stop. The only danger with those is that they recycle the water. It is filtered, but still...

If you want to avoid swirl marks, never apply a product to the car if it isn't totally clean. So don't use any quick detailer in the garage. And in all cases, avoid scrubbing to get things off, and avoid circular motions.

I go to coin operated hand spray washes but I don't use the soap or the brush. I just put it on rinse mode to blast away the muck. After I blast all the muck off, I wash it at home in my garage with Optimim No Rinse car wash. Here is a thread about this:

I ordered some Optimum No Rinse for myself for Christmas and used it twice and have decided to go back to just use the regular water wash with Meguiars Gold Class car wash. I found that the amount of time and effort required to spray down, soak, and wipe off the ONR was just too much compared to using a hose and regular car wash. With the ONR it took about 40 minutes and with the regular water wash it takes about 30 minutes.

Also if the car is really dirty if you are going to rinse it off before you use the ONR you are half way through the amount of work required to do a regular water wash anyways. I also found with the ONR that unless I really soaked my black car down there would be some spots of residual hazing. Keep in mind I am in Vancouver and it rarely gets below freezing so if I was in Toronto or Edmonton I would think using the ONR would be a greater advantage.....

One last thing, I ordered 2 grit guards for a 2 bucket wash system with the ONR. These are a must have for any kind of car wash product to help prevent scratching your paint job.....